...12.29...Friday Update...from the hotel...

...I have ridden a PELOTON...!

...and it was...well...OK...and maybe I should have taken a class on how to use the thing first...so I hate to say anything negative...y'all know I'm a pretty avid bike rider...on a real bike...but I've been on several different types of exercise bikes in gyms as well...and this one would not rank among my favorite ones of those...but I'll watch some YT vids on how to adjust it and give it another try...I will say that the tension adjustment knob is pretty amazing...super accessible and easy to turn...and a very minute adjustment makes a huge change in the tension...

...Posting some comments to blog friends here...again...

...to my sweet sissie Karen who blogs from her boat at McCraw Sails...Hey K...that was a pretty (pink sails int he morning sunrise)...your bagels look delicious...and your beach walks look so peaceful if a bit rough going...I'm hoping there are no sharks around with all your snorkeling...thanks so much for the book...Love, T

...to karen from Pumpkin Sunrise...Hi Karen...it's so nice that you get to have your house full of your family for the holidays...your stockings are adorable...I love the dark red colour...

...to Éphée from L'éphémère quotidienneté des repas et autres trucs de magie...Hi Éphée...your chic'n soup looks amazing...and I love your outdoor Christmas tree...

...to Penny from Snap That Penny...Hi Penny..those lights are so pretty...we didn't really go driving around looking for Christmas lights during this busy moving/leaving time...just a few random ones that we happened to drive by...it always warms my heart to see them though...

...on the reading front...

...of course I'm reading (re-reading) A Portion for Foxes...it's good...very romance-novel-y...and nostalgic for me...taking a bit of a break from Dickens...

...what have you been reading lately?

~Have a lovely day!

...12.28...What We Ate...the first day in the new house...

...I made overnight oats for breakfast...because one of the things I couldn't fit in the new freezer was this bag of mixed berries...so I put it in the fridge so as not to waste it...and it thawed out...so we used that up...I also have one thawed bag of broccoli and one of lima beans and corn that still need to be used up...haha...

...for lunch we had veggie burgers and tater tots...freeing up a small amount of freezer space...I think I'll put the Christmas dishes away in the cabinet above the fridge...along with a few other seasonal and seldom used dishes that we kept in the basement at the parsonage...

...and the Man had ordered this spice mix...and we sprinkled it over some seitan beef bites...

...another couple of things I noticed in this photo...that's the Man's foot at the top...but this tile...is amazing...

...I'm going to have to do some research as I don't even know what it's called...I'd call it a 'soft-edged' tile...I've done a LOT of tile work in my rather long lifetime...haha...and I've never seen a tile like this...there is no sharp edge or angle where the tile meets the grout...so it feels super smooth underfoot...I'll do a post about it with some better pictures later...

...so we had that with mashed potatoes...spinach and a salad...

...what did you eat yesterday...

...also I'm thinking of changing this post up a bit...and instead of trying to capture everything I eat in just one day...to just doing a sort of general post once a week of delicious vegan food we ate...let me know what you think...I don't want things to get too same-y...

...and of course...once I get my kitchen sorted at the new house...I'll be back in the kitchen with Julia to finish up that project...

~Have a lovely day!

...12.27...W.I.P. Wednesday...nada...

...we're spending our last few days in the parish in a hotel...everything...EVERYTHING...is completely out of the parsonage...so we're going to spend a while here...

...and there should definitely be a W.I.P. post....BUT...I can't find my knitting bag...I'm guessing it's at the new house...well...I'm sure it is...just not exactly sure where in the new house...haha...I'm sure I'll find it...but I was definitely planning on and looking forward to finishing my red sweater during all the after-moving-after-cleaning time here at the hotel...oh well...we'll be 'home' next week...and I'll finish it then...

...what's in your workbasket this week?...

~Have a lovely day!

...12.26...Merry Christmas...

...we actually spent Christmas Day at the new house...

...so presents first...

...that pretty package from my sissie was a book...which I kindof expected...you know...having felt and squished the package...haha...but the actual book was quite a surprise...A Portion for Foxes...it was a book that we read as teenagers when we were about as 'horse-y' as we could be...we had nine horses in our small stable...and we'd get up at dawn every weekend and leave on horseback and not come home 'til dark...it was the 70s in the country and pretty safe...but I think we experienced some of the haughtiness and snobbery even in our small horse-y circle that's evident in this book...and I'm looking forward to another read...especially because as an adult I may focus more on the civil rights aspects of the book and less of the horse-i-ness...

...thanks Sissie...I'll loan it back to you for a re-read later this year...LOVE it!

...and the lovely tag becomes a pretty ornament...so I hung it on the tree...

...and on the back porch was this lovely packed full package...

...a beautiful assortment of teas...some yummy vegan chocolate...a pretty card and gift card...and 'grandma's' amarylis...a bag of mom's famous Ritz Christmas cookies...and a bell shaped bird feeder...

...such a lovely thoughtful gift...Thanks Mom!...LOVE it!

...so...right away...I made a pot of the Jane Austen tea blend...and it was so delicious...

...and then in the afternoon...we made our Christmas dinner...lots of vegan sides...peas...and the best green bean casserole I've ever made...broccoli...and a less than stellar macaroni...and I only say that because I accidentally added some smoked vegan cheese from the freezer...just a random block of a white vegan cheese that I'd stuck in the freezer at some point...so when we cleaned out the freezer at the parsonage...I took some things like that...that weren't super perishable and moved them over to the fridge so that we'd use them up...and it wasn't labeled as 'smoked'...so I just tossed it into my Christmas mac-n-cheese...(really you'd think I'd be more careful...HA)...it wasn't horrible...it just wasn't exactly what was supposed to go with this meal...oh well...

...we set the table with our Christmas plates...and Nanny's silver...I'll have to do a post about Nanny's silver...she actually gave it to me a few years before she died...it stays in a lovely velvet lined case...and we should definitely use it more often...

...my super stuffed Christmas plate...so delicious...

...and the tea we chose to go with Christmas dinner was the Twinings Darjeeling...when we were first married...there was an Indian grocery near our apartment and we used to buy the Lipton's Green label Darjeeling tea there...and we kept one of the big tins and I still keep tea in it...you can see it here...but it's been a while since we've bought Darjeeling...it really is good...the Queen of teas...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!...have a lovely day!

...12.23...Dinner and no Movie...

...all done with the cleaning...we have two chairs and a computer monitor for watching TV...so not the most comfortable setup for movie night...so we opted to just go out for a leisurely dinner...we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant...and sat there for a couple of hours nibbling on chips and salsa...and congratulating ourselves on a job well done...haha...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your weekend...

...12.22...Friday Update...

...Posting some comments to blog friends here...again...

...to my sweet sissie Karen who blogs from her boat at McCraw Sails...Hey K...sorry it's so windy for you...it still looks so pretty there though...we had a very rainy move here last weekend...Love, T

...to karen from Pumpkin Sunrise...Hi Karen...poor Frodo...that was such as sweet photo of him...old dogs that have been with us for many many years are just one of the best sweetest things in life...your stockings are so cute...

...to Éphée from L'éphémère quotidienneté des repas et autres trucs de magie...Hi Éphée...Your potatos look very yummy...and so does your avocado toast...I love avo-toast...and your additions would make it extra delicious...what a sweet black kitty...reminds me of someone...haha...

...to Penny from Snap That Penny...Hi Penny..Im so happy that you get to spend some time with your family...and how awesome that you'll get to see the Stones...we've seen them live in concert...but the last time was many many years ago...Steel Wheels...haha...I loved seeing your Christmas decorations and your reading stats...I have not read a line or knitted a row in about 2 weeks...so I'm looking forward to that in the new year...

...Merry Christmas!

~Have a lovely day!

...12.21...the last vegan food I ate in the parsonage...

...we're only planning on taking one small cooler when we leave...so...

...for breakfast we had these accidentally vegan blueberry pastries in the freezer...they were a pretty yummy...very carb-filled breakfast for a day of packing and cleaning...

...before I packed up the Griddler...I made a whole bag of frozen cauliflower...and ate it out of hand for a snack...

...I made a couple of sandwiches...a vegan Reuben to use up this last bit of seitan...

...and a vegan chick'n sammie to use up the last of the Beyond Chick'n strips...

...some plain blueberries...just thawed...

...and to use up the last of the blueberries...I made this rather delicious fruit salad...blueberries...coconut...mango and pineapple...all from the freezer...it really was yummy...and I probably would not have put those things together unless I was just trying to use them all up...

...a Daiya Supreme pizza...we'd never had it before and it was pretty good...

...but apparently I'd already packed the pizza cutter...but scissors make pretty good pizza cutters too...haha...

...12.20...W.I.P. Wednesday...

...we are almost completely moved out of the parsonage we've called home for the 9+ years...

...just cleaning and cleaning...and cleaning...

...a tip that I didn't document very well...but basically if you get that gray-ish/black stain on your grout or caulking in your shower...take some paper towels and wet them with pure bleach and just sort of smoosh it up against the grout or caulk and leave it for a few hours...and it seeps in there and bleaches that mildew away...sorry I didn't take a before OR after...but it does work...

...yeah...I've not been doing a very good job of taking pictures...

...but pretty much every room in the parsonage looks exactly like this...

...what's in your workbasket this week?

~Have a lovely day!

...12.18...Over the (MOVING) weekend...

...we started the weekend with a big carb-filled breakfast...to fuel us up for the packing of the truck...

...the only food prep I did was to bake Mom's Rum Cake...recipe here...scroll to the bottom...

...I took one last ride on my bike...and then loaded her onto the truck...

...we would have liked to park the truck under the carport...but it's too tall...so we just backed the opening under the eaves...and hoped for the best...U-haul says their trucks are water-resistant and cannot be expected to be 100% waterproof...

...and that's it...this is the last load of stuff from the parsonage...we have two chairs a small computer screen and a 'new' air mattress left in this house...

...and as expected...the weather was HORRIBLE...

...but we made it and this package was waiting at the new house when we got there...I love the quote from Mary Poppins...

...it's from my sweet sissie...of course...

...and I put it right under the tree...

...and after unloading the truck we made a quick supper...

...our new neighbor has an enormous rosemary plant in her backyard...right across the fence from ours...and she said I could snip fresh rosemary anytime I wanted it...LOVE that!

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

...12.15...Friday Update...

...I guess you don't really need an update...as I think you know what I'm doing...haha...

...I use every available container and then I use the sheets/pillowcases/blankets/afghans as packing material...

...the cupboard is almost bare...

...and I carefully packed our precious Okinawan sweet potatoes...

...I wrapped up Amy's present...and we'll tote that around with us...hoping to meet up with her before the move...

...and we started loading the truck...we're expecting really bad moving weather this weekend...pouring rain and high winds...so we're going to try and keep the back of the truck in the dry for packing and so that hopefully nothing will get wet...

~Have a lovely day!

...12.14...What I Ate in a Day...as a Vegan...

...for breakfast I had a vegan sausage biscuit...you probably assumed that...haha...

...then I wanted to use up some apples...

...so I made that 'applesauce' Apple Pie recipe from the old cookbook the Man gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago...recipe here...

...and while the oven was on...I baked a Tupperware full of peanut butter cookies that I found in the freezer...

...for lunch I had some leftover sweet and sour tofu...

...and afternoon snack was banana peanut butter flaxseed toast...

...so really the only proper meal I ate was supper...vegetable soup from the freezer with vegan cornbread...baby potatoes and a big salad...

...what did you eat yesterday?...

~Have a lovely day!

...12.13...W.I.P. Wednesday...

...well...not a stitch has been knit this week...but I'm not worried about it...there will be a time for knitting soon...haha...

...but tremendous progress has been made clearing out the basement...

...so here's a reminder of the before...YIKES!!!

...the boxes and totes along the back wall are the only...ONLY things going on the truck...the stuff in the front is for one last trip to goodwill...

...I texted this photo to our Airman...as I was sure he wouldn't believe it...haha...

...the table will stay with the parsonage it wasn't ours...and the few boxes on it are some more things I found that belong to Our Airman so I'll drop them off at his storage unit when I take the rest of the stuff to Goodwill...

~Have a lovely day!